Holly Rose

Terrifying magic, swoony romance, heart-wrenching betrayal-Ashes of Aether is the first book in a brand-new young adult fantasy series, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas, and Margaret Rogerson. Loving a necromancer's son comes at a perilous price... As the daughter of Nolderan's most powerful mage, Reyna Ashbourne has only ever faced two obstacles: her father's wrath for slacking with her magic studies, and being shunned by many for loving Arluin, a necromancer's son. But Reyna's life takes a bitter turn when Arluin's exiled father returns to wreak his vengeance upon the city. With the living dead plaguing the streets, the boy she loves is forced to choose between his heart and his blood. When those dearest to her perish, Reyna vows to become as mighty as her father. However, the path of the magi is no easy one, and she must first complete her Mage Trials to prove she has the required strength of heart, mind, and magic. Yet the shadows of the past rise once again, threatening to tear Nolderan asunder. And so too her heart.

Legends of Imyria Book 1

Ashes of Aether

Ellie 

Eryn Bradshaw

"That which is aether may never truly die."

Reyna Ashbourne is studying to become a Mage of Nolderan, an honor only a few select mages accomplish after 5 years of studying. Currently, in her second year, she is known as a bit of a slacker, skating by on talent and her father's prestige, the Grandmage of Nolderan. Her interests tend to lie more in drinking, her friend, Eliya, and her boyfriend, Arluin, the son of the exiled Necromancer Heston Harstall. Everything changes when Heston returns to Nolderan with necromancers and an undead army at his command. The army ravages the city, leaving many dead in their wake. In the chaos, Arluin vanishes without a trace. From that moment, Reyna vows to become the most powerful mage in Nolderan to protect the rest of her loved ones from any future chaos.


I loved the premise of Ashes of Aether and saw it being advertised on TikTok for free. I was intrigued and who can turn down a free book from a new author so I snapped it up? I didn’t have any real expectations, as it’s Holly Rose’s debut novel, but being promised a decent magic system, an interesting story, and spicy romance, I was definitely ready for it. However, the book fell flat for me. The best way to describe how I feel after reading this is whiplash because there are parts that were good and enjoyed and so many other parts I hated and couldn’t help rolling my eyes at.


The first thing about this book is how hard it was to get into it at first. The whole book is written in the present tense. It’s always difficult for me to read through the present tense at first. It takes so much adjusting for my brain to process when reading books that I find myself rereading sentences over and over because I’m expecting past tense. It is something I can and have overlooked before, but it’s definitely a process.


Unfortunately, the writing was so clunky as well. Sentences were too wordy at times, with extra details added in that had already been mentioned. Often times details, descriptions, and explanations were added in unnecessarily that they really didn’t add any substance to the story itself. For example, ‘Once my mother has painstakingly planted the flowers with her own hands, they are maintained by our reptilian servants. In case you are wondering, that isn’t a metaphor. Our servants are quite literally reptilian. Though they might be closer to what one calls pets than servants, or perhaps something in between.’ This explanation almost threw me out of the story. I understand when reading a book with a new world the author has created, there may be creatures that I wouldn’t see in my life, but I felt like I was being patronized by the storyteller. Things like this can be explained better, like saying the flowers were maintained by reptilian servants the size of cats.


Another early example is when we’re introduced to Reyna’s boyfriend. ‘He simply smiles at me. “And because you’re the silliest person I know.” To anyone else, that might sound like an insult, but I know it’s a compliment of deep meaning. Once, when we were drunk in the dead of night, he confessed to how much he loved my silliness. He said it helps him forget all that has happened.’ My husband and I call each other dumb ass, but I don’t think readers need to know the details of why we call each other that. And I think being called silly isn’t an insult to anyone when it’s someone being affectionate. But there are details like this scattered throughout the book, pulling the reader out of the current events into Reyna’s memories that don’t add anything to the reading experience. It’s fantastic to have depth and backstory to characters, but readers don’t need to know every single piece of history and reasoning behind everything being said and done.


As mentioned before, the plot of the book intrigued me. There are a lot of flaws that are really hard to ignore, but there are some redeeming factors. I want to go with the good first, but chronologically the bad makes more sense to review first.


The first 40% of the book either should have been a separate, longer book or not written at all. Allow me to explain. In the first 40% of the book, we cover the span of 5 days, in which one of those days is a hangover day and nothing really occurs.


Day 1: Reyna’s 18th birthday. She attends school, battles with her “arch-nemesis” (we’ll get to that soon), and is angry everyone is too busy to celebrate her birthday. BUT SURPRISE! Everyone pretended they were too busy and throws her a surprise party where she gets blackout drunk. She gets taken back to Arluin’s house where he promises to marry her and they spend the night having sex.
Day 2: Hangover day. Nothing happens except Arluin revealing secrets about working with his necromancer dad before he was exiled.
Day 3: Reyna returns to school with an extended hangover (girl, why didn’t you drink water?). Goes to her classes. Gets into another fight with her “arch-nemesis”. Is punished. Meets up with Arluin to go back to his house. Arluin’s dad shows up and attacks the city. Arluin turns to work with his dad. Much devastation. Much sadness. Much battle. I was bored.
Day 4: Lost day. Either I don’t remember what happened because I was bored or nothing was written. Both are likely.
Day 5: Reyna’s mom’s funeral. Sadness had all around. Arluin is missing or dead. Reyna vows to become powerful.


The first 40% is really establishing the reason for Reyna’s turn around from slacker to top mage, which is fine, but I feel like everything would have been more poignant for the reader if we had a full book to really get to know all these characters. I felt no hatred for her arch-nemesis. I felt no sadness when her mom was murdered. I didn’t care for Arluin when he promised to marry her, when he revealed his dark secrets, and when he switched sides and joined his dad. I had no connection at all to these characters which really affected the rest of the book for me.


While I enjoyed parts of the rest of the book, like the mage trials, there were still many flaws. So spoiler territory, skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled for the next 60% of the book. We flash forward 3 years, which is a huge hit for the storyline in my opinion. I didn’t care for the characters or plot before, I really didn’t care when I missed 3 years of their lives. Reyna has to attempt the mage trials in order to graduate and become an official Mage of Nolderan. This is where the story shined the most. The combat and trials, the emotions felt, I really felt like I was reading something super interesting and was invested in seeing if Reyna succeeded in the trials. But it was all the bits in between the trials that bored me. Plot twists weren’t very shocking. Reyna runs into a very handsome stranger who takes a strange interest in the necklace Arluin gave her three years ago that she still wears to this day. I wonder why. The handsome stranger is Arluin in disguise, of course. He wants his vengeance against Reyna’s dad for killing his dad. So what does he do? Raids the city, kidnaps Reyna, kills her father, and destroys the entire city. THEN STILL ASKS REYNA TO MARRY HIM! I mean, after three years, I think Reyna maybe should have removed this necklace from her supposed dead boyfriend, but she clung to his memory and he comes walking in thinking, I’ll just kill everyone and she’ll be my necromancer queen or some shit. And it’s not just a fraction of the city that is killed like when Arluin’s father attacked. No, it’s the whole city. Somehow this 23-year-old man (I’m estimating his age based on Reyna’s age and where he was in his studies when we met him) comes in a destroys an entire city when his older dad couldn’t even do that? And yet Reyna is the only surviving citizen? Press X to doubt. And then to top it all off the book ends with Reyna deciding the only way to take revenge on Arluin is to summon a demon. The plot really escaped me when Arluin started killing people, to be honest.


Aside from the writing style, the characters were probably the worst part of the whole book. Reyna, at the start of the book, just has her 18th birthday. Aside from the excessive blackout-inducing drinking and sex, you’d think she’s between 14 to 16 years old. Before her surprise birthday party, all she can do is whine and moan about how everyone is too busy for her birthday. Her best friend, Eliya is just as bad. She has an obsession with getting absolutely hammered. It just felt very forced and cringe.


Perhaps the only responsible character around Reyna’s age was Arluin. But he wasn’t even that interesting. He liked reading books and being a good student. I genuinely just didn’t care for the boyfriend at all. He disappeared and I thought, who cares? And the constant missing Reyna did over Arluin was a bit silly. Yeah, everyone handles trauma in a different way but girl move on, you’re 21 years old. Why isn’t anyone telling her to get a life?


Other notable side characters. Her parents. They’re pretty much just the generic parents. Dad has a temper. Mom is kind and understanding. They didn’t necessarily add or subtract anything from the story. And last (human) character I want to mention is Kaely, Reyna’s arch-nemesis. Apparently, they used to be friends, but aren’t anymore. No idea why. Out of all the little backstories that were deemed important to the story, this one wasn’t. Reyna has no idea why Kaely hates her. Her first thought is “Maybe it’s because I’m taller than her.” Uuuh. What? Then Kaely kind of brings up how Reyna is just the preferred student because her dad is the Grandmage. But aside from that, it all just felt really shallow.


The only good character in the whole book was a non-speaking reptilian servant named Zephyr. I don’t know how, but more personality was put into this little dragon thing than anyone else in the book. And he didn’t die in the attack, so yay I guess.


I will give credit where credit is due. The magic system is intriguing and I’d love to learn more about it. People can use magic based on the amount of aether in their blood. They have to concentrate to build up the power of a spell or to do something more complex. It definitely feels like the magic was thought about because there were times when Reyna ran into the problem of not having enough aether, but I’m not sure how aether is added back into a person’s blood. I’m definitely left wanting to know more about the magic system and intrigued by it. I’m even interested in learning more about why spell words are important and why not saying a spell word makes the magic uncontrollable.


The worldbuilding seems well thought out as well. The city of Nolderan seems like a city I’d want to explore, despite the extremely cheesy names of pubs and bakeries. There are different races and worlds outside of Nolderan that were thought about as well and I can only hope and assume that in the coming book, we get to see more of these other races and cities.


Overall, Ashes of Aether has potential, but it falls flat in so many places. I really struggle with giving it a star rating because I can see the potential of the book and story, but I think I’m going to give it 2 stars out of 5. I realize this was the third rewrite of this story, as said at the end of the book in the Author Acknowledgements, but I believe this really would have benefitted from being split up. The first 40% of the book could have been its own book. There’s lots of world-building and character development that would’ve gone a long way for the investment of the characters and story that were missing. There will be a next book and I really hope there’s a lot of improvement made from Rose’s debut novel, but I won’t be going out of my way to read it. If it comes along as a freebie like I came across this one, I may read it, but otherwise, I really don’t think I’m that invested or interested.

Áróra Lind 

I got an eArc copy for an honest review. Thank you @bookmatchesmedia and @Hollyrosebooks for letting me participate in the promotional tour.
This book comes out on 27th July! I highly recommend picking it up and giving this debut novel a try.
.
Review:
This is a debut novel and the first in a series. When I read the description of the book when Holly Rose was asking for reviewers for her debut novel, I was immediately interested in the book. It sounded so amazing.
.
This story was beautifully written. I loved the characters, the magic system, and the story overall. 
The main character is Reyna. She is the daughter of the most powerful mage. She really feels the pressure of completing the trials and get through them.
.
The book ended on a cliffhanger and it surprised me. Some of the plots that happened, I didn't think would happen. It was nice to read a book that, I didn't guess the ending or the plot completely right.
.
I definitely recommend picking this book up.

Micol Scalabrino

Ashes of aether is first installment in a brand new series written by Holly Rose (@hollyrosebooks). Perfect for fans of Sorcery of thorns and Elise Kova’s books, this book will take you to a world where mages rule the cities and magic is so powerful that you’ll be completely submerged.

I loved this book. It was fresh and new, original and well written. 

This book is original for the majority of aspects, where others are a bit common, I would say that the book is overall original. The magical system is like no other I have seen and the use of aether as the main source for magic is truly amazing. The continuous contrast between the light magic and dark magic, represented by the protagonist and her boyfriend is something I dreaded to see in a book like this. I was literally scared it would be too much, as we Italian say too much meat on the fire (too many things to take care of) is never good. Instead, I was surprised of how the author managed all this, it was done well. 

The plot was a lot. After half of the book I was pretty sure nothing more would happen, and instead I was given even more plot twists and deaths (yeas, I know it might sound macabre, but I like when authors have the courage to make their characters die). 

Characters:

•	Reyna. Can I say that I didn’t like her at all for the first three chapters? She was so childlish, annoying and spoiled. But, because there’s always a but, I read more. I read about her family, her situation at the academy and she even changed her behavior a bit. I’m not even sure she actually did or it is just me who changed perspective. She is selfish, but not too much and I love this aspect: if she has to run for her safety, she does so, she tries to keep everyone she loves outside of her problems even if sometimes it is impossible.

•	Eleya. I didn’t mind her that much, I wish I’ve seen more of her in the book and not only when Reyna needed her. She is a great friend, but again, she seemed to be only useful to the protagonist and not what I consider a friend to share everything with. I can understand though the type of life they live, so that was not a real let down.

•	Arluin. I love him. There’s nothing more to say. He is caring, loving and the perfect boyfriend, as for the first half of the book. Then… well, he changed, but I still like him, even if I don’t comprehend his actions. The relationship with Reyna was one of my favorite, his promise was one of the sweetest gifts he could ever given to her. He is caring, strong minded and even sweet. It’s the opposite to the bad boys we are so used to now and this was a breath of fresh air (at least until everything changes).

•	Talric. I really liked him, at the beginning I was sure he did not want anything to do with his daughter, but I had to think again. He is complex and really care for his family, even though he is busy and always gone.

I think one of the best parts of this book was the world building. I found myself inside the city, studying and fighting with the characters. Everything was so realistic, that I was there too. Everything in the book was described perfectly and even the small details were taken into consideration and I loved it. 

As I said before, a lot happened in this book and the finale was no less exciting. Without spoilers, it’s definitely a cliffhanger, one of the worst in terms of waiting the sequel because I need to know what happens next!

At the beginning of the book I was not the number one fan of her writing style, it seemed to be a bit pompous for the type of book and I was sure she was kind of creating it just for the book. After the fourth chapter, I was in love. It’s flowing, easy but not shallow. I ended up eating the whole book in two days, because yes, it is that good. 

Read this if you like mage's trials, fights between mages and lovers to enemies!
Trigger Warnings: Necromancy, Death

Final vote: 4,5/5

Samantha

I've been following Holly on instagram and keeping track of this books status updates. I had signed up to potentially get an ARC of this books. While {im}patiently and excitedly waiting, the cover was revealed and instantly fell in love with the beauty of the book cover when she released the sneak peek. While I know you can't really judge a book by its cover, come on, just look at it. It's stunning! The colors, Reyna, the title font, all of it. So much love there. 
..I'm trying to think of how to write this without revealing spoilers, because I definitely think this series has so much potential and I encourage readers to give it a read. I hadn't even gotten halfway through and I already preordered both a paperback and hard cover copy of the book - Soft because that's my preferred book cover, but hardcover for the beauty of the cover under the sleeve. 


The plot of the book is set at a pace that isn't too fast where it feels rushed, but also not slow to where I found myself getting bored with it. I was drawn in from the start. The take on dark magic vs light magic is different than most other books I've read, and while it's initially set up as "dark magic = bad" we see that it's not just black and white as the story builds.

Let's get to the characters:
Reyna: In the first bit of the book, part of me kind of didn't like her. She seemed kind of self involved and just didn't really care about anything. I'm personally not much of a "slacker" per-se so her "who cares I'm gonna slack off but I still think I'll scrape by" attitude just put me off. After certain events in the book I won't ruin, she seems to shape up and sort out her priorities, and my respect for her skyrocketed. While she still had some selfish tendencies (who doesn't though), she really grew as a character in my opinion

  Eliya
: Oh sweet, sweet Eliya. The perfect blend of supportive best friend and slight bad influence. A beautiful, fiery red-head. I really wish we got more of her in the book, and not just when Reyna needed her for backup. She was a character with so much potential.

  Talric
: Reyna's father seemed like your typical overprotective but overworked dad. I kept finding myself relating him to King Triton from the Little Mermaid for some reason. He sees his daughter's potential and doesn't want to see her throw it away so he's hard on her, until tragedy brings them closer together. He is both proud of his daughter, but also tough on her as I think a parent should be when their kid is slacking. 

  Kaely
: This is Reyna's nemesis/enemy. I still don't quite get this rivalry here. It's a best friends-turned-enemies situation. They were best friends until they began their mage training, then Kaely started hating her for no reason? The explanation she gives is that Reyna gets undeserved praise just for being the Grandmage's daughter - but it's well told that Reyna slacks off and is mediocre in her studies, so what competition is there really, and why would Reyna get praise for being half-hearted in her performances? It would have been more believable or understandable if there was more of a reason for her to hate Reyna than that alone.

  Zephyr
: my sweet little baby dragon creature buddy. Definitely hoping to see more of him in the next book. The little dragon creatures are basically like little magical servants/helpers to the people and they help with household duties around the land. Zephyr is the only one described as having a personality and being interactive with characters. He's quirky and sassy and I love him.

  Arluin
: I've saved him for last cause there's a lot to unpack here. **SPOILERS so skip this if you don't want any (will be hidden on GR)** I started off loving Arluin. He seemed to be genuine and true to himself. Despite being treated poorly due to being the son of an exiled Necromancer, he still gave his all to his studies and was on track to being a top tier Mage. He was caring , intelligent, sweet and lovable. (view spoiler)[ After his father's attempt at a takeover and sacrificing himself to save Reyna, he disappears for years. This is where it goes south. Arluin changes and I'm honestly baffled and confused at this. He comes back with a vendetta to avenge the death of his father - who as I just said attempted a takeover of the kingdom causing death and destruction everywhere. He held a grudge against Talric for executing his father without a trial and "being mean" basically. This was his father's second offense - his first trial resulting in banishment which by law SHOULD have been death but Talric was lenient. Did he HONESTLY think after murdering many people that his father deserved another trial and that even then that trial wouldn't have resulted in death? His father abandoned him, hurt his girlfriend AND him, and tried to destroy EVERYTHING Arluin held dear....and yet he still had his father on a pedestal and turned dark to avenge him? Another factor was that he himself was ordered to be executed if found because he knowingly and willingly participated in Necromancy - which was illegal. He broke the law - he claims to protect Reyna but even so the law is the law - but wanted to have a hissy fit because he was then going to be held to those laws he broke. I just don't understand how Arluin would want to avenge his father, kill what was left of Reyna's loved ones, and then still think she would be with him and love him after that.  (hide spoiler)]

Anyways, overall I adored this book and I genuinely can't wait for the next one to come out. 4.5 stars from me.

Sintia

4.5 stars.

I really loved and enjoyed reading this book. I would totally recommend it if you are a fan of YA fantasy books. The magic system is something different and intriguing.

Reyna, the main character, is a unique character that goes through a lot, from love to loss. She is the daughter of the Grandmage of Nolderan and her boyfriend, Arluin, is the son of an exiled necromancer. She is studying to become a Mage and having fun with her friend Eliya and Arluin. 
Arluin's father returns and Reyna's life changes. 

Check out this book, you won't regret it.

Lastly, I want to thank the author, Holly Rose, for the digital ARC.

Jess Ostrander

3.5! 
I was instantly drawn to the synopsis- necromancy sounded like it would make an interesting story! And it definitely did. The necromancers and their powers were really interesting and I feel like they'll play more of a part in book two! The world-building was really good and definitely sets it up well. I definitely can't wait to see more as the books go on. The plot is pretty fast-paced, especially at the end. There are twists and turns and enough to keep you guessing. 
The thing that knocked this one down half a star for me was the main character. I did not like her at first. She makes some questionable choices and spends a ton of time getting drunk and felt kind of childish. I did end up liking her as it went on, but it took me a bit. Now the side characters I liked. They kept me reading when I wanted to roll my eyes at Reyna. Especially Eliya. I really liked her. 
This is a debut book, so there are some writing issues, but I think by the next book it will work itself out. Sometimes dialogue didn't feel natural, and there were some things I found overly descriptive that were unnecessary. I liked the romance aspect of it too, but I think some more time could have been spent building their connection.
Overall, I think this is a really solid fantasy debut with beautiful world-building, an interesting plot, and characters that grow on you. I think a lot of people would enjoy this one, and I definitely suggest giving it a shot if the plot intrigues you!

Ashes of Aether Legends of Imyria Book 1

Reviews

Highlights